JPS62124985A - Ink film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain an ink film which makes it possible to detect the residual amount thereof without increasing the number of component parts of a hard copying device, by providing a mark indicative of capacity at a part immediately preceding a marker for positioning the leading end of a block of the ink film. CONSTITUTION:A bar code 1b consisting of markers 1c, 1d, 1e is provided on an ink film at a part immediately before a marker 1a for positioning the leading end of a block of the ink film. The bar code 1b indicates the capacity of the ink film, the capacity varying with, for example, the ratio of the spacing between he markers 1c and 1d to the spacing between the markers 1d and 1e. The bar code 1b is detected by a sensor 4 of a hard copying device. Accordingly, the capacity of the ink film can be detected when using the ink film, and the residual amount of the ink film can be detected by counting the number of times of printing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an ink film suitable for use in a thermal transfer type hard copy device.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a thermal transfer type hard copy in which an ink film coated with ink is placed on the image-receiving paper to be printed, and a thermal head is brought into contact with this to generate heat, thereby thermally transferring the ink from the ink film onto the image-receiving paper to print. The device is known.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of essential parts of an example of such a hard copy device, in which 1 is an ink film, 2 is a supply reel shaft, 3 is a take-up reel shaft, 4 is a reflective sensor, 5 is a reflective plate, 6 is a platen, 7 is a thermal head, and 7a is a minute heating resistor.

In the figure, an ink film 1 is wound around a supply reel shaft 2 and a take-up reel shaft 3. During printing, the image receiving paper 9 is attached to the platen 6, and the image receiving paper 9 and the ink film 1 are moved between the platen 6 and the heat-sensitive spatula' door so that the ink coated surface of the ink film 1 is in contact with the printing surface of the image receiving paper 9. Scissor. Then, the minute heating resistor 7a of the thermal head 7 is selectively made to generate heat, and at the same time, the platen 6 and the like are rotated so that the ink film 1
and the image receiving paper 9 are transported in the direction of the arrow. ink film l
is pulled out from the supply side reel shaft 2, and is pulled out from the take-up side reel shaft 3.
is wound up.

Therefore, the ink applied to the ink film 1 is sequentially transferred to the printing surface of the image-receiving paper 9 by the heat of the selected minute heating resistor 7a, and printing is performed on the image-receiving paper 9.

By the way, when performing color printing, for example, an ink film coated with ink of three colors, cyan, magenta, and yellow, is used. That is, as shown in Fig. 4, these color inks are applied in order over a predetermined length, and by printing once on each color ink application area of cyan, magenta, and yellow, one printing is completed. Color printing is performed.

In this way, in order to be able to perform color printing by sequential thermal transfer of three color inks, at the start of color printing, the ink application range ( The beginning of one printing range (hereinafter referred to as one printing range) (in FIG. 4, the beginning of the cyan ink application area) must be set at the position of the minute heating resistor 7a.

This setting is called cueing, and in order to make this cueing possible, a marker 1a is placed at the beginning of each printing range, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, a sensor is provided in the hard copy device shown in FIG.
(FIG. 4) is detected and cueing is performed. When this cueing is completed and printing is started, the rotation of the platen 6 moves the ink film 1 and the image receiving paper 9 in the direction of the arrow at the same speed, and cyan printing is performed. Next, the platen 6 is reversed by the amount of rotation caused by this printing, and the receiver paper 9 is returned to its original position, and then the ink film 1 is returned to its original position.
The image receiving paper 9 is transported at the same speed in the direction of the arrow, and magenta printing is performed. This printing is performed so as to overlap the previous cyan printing area.

Printing for yellow is performed in the same manner, and color printing is completed.

Note that the ink film cueing may be performed immediately before color printing is performed, or may be performed immediately after.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

By the way, in such an ink film, each printing range can generally be used for only one printing. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to know how many times more printing can be done with the ink film being used (that is, the remaining amount).

If the number of printable ink films is constant, this can be done, for example, by counting the previous cue marker, but in reality, the number of prints (i.e., the capacity ) are on the market, and even if you can count the number of prints by counting the cue markers, you cannot know the remaining amount.

In order to know the remaining amount of the ink film being used, it is possible to attach a mark indicating the number of remaining one printing range for each printing range, for example, immediately before and after the cue marker. Conceivable.

However, ink films for color printing have conventionally used a marker for cueing and one plate each for cyan, magenta, and yellow, and each ink is applied to the plate and transferred to the film in sequence. Created by. If you try to transfer a mark indicating the remaining amount for each printing range to this, the remaining amount will be different for each printing range, so you will need many plates with different marks. The plate of the mark representing the remaining amount must be replaced every time the ink film is formed, making the production of the ink film very time-consuming.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an ink film that solves these problems, allows the remaining amount to be detected, and can be produced using essentially conventional processes.

[Means to resolve the problem]

For this reason, the present invention provides a mark indicating the capacity (number of printable times) only immediately before the cue marker provided at the head of the first printing range. [Function] The above mark If you know the capacity, you can easily determine the remaining amount from the number of times you have printed, and if you first transfer the mark to the film during production, you only need to transfer one printing range.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the ink film according to the present invention, in which 1b is a barcode, IC, 1d+
le is a marker, and parts corresponding to those in FIG. 4 are given the same reference numerals.

FIG. 1 shows the starting end of this embodiment, and the one print range shown in the figure consisting of the cyan, magenta, and yellow color ink application areas is the first one. At the beginning of this one printing range, a marker 1a for cueing is provided as in the conventional case, but in addition, immediately before this marker 1a, a marker 1c+1a is provided.

A barcode 1b consisting of 1e is provided.

This barcode 1b represents the capacity of the ink film 1, and the capacity varies depending on, for example, the ratio of the interval between the markers lc and ld to the interval between the markers ld and le. Here, the ink film shown in FIG. 1 (bl) has a larger capacity than the ink film 1 shown in FIG.

Such a barcode 1b is detected by a sensor of an octocopy device. With this, when using the ink film, its capacity can be known, and by counting the number of times it has been printed, it is possible to determine its remaining amount.

In addition, since the barcode 1b is provided at only one place on the ink film 1, when producing it, the plate of the barcode 1b is used only once, and then the marker la and the plate of one printing range are used in the same way as before. Just use it again,
There are only a few types of plates, and it does not take much time to make them.

Furthermore, the same ink material as the marker 1a is used for each marker Lctla+18 of the barcode lb, so that the sensor 4 for detecting the marker 1a shown in FIG. 3 can also detect the barcode 1b. Therefore, there is no need to provide a dedicated sensor for each different type of marker.

Note that as the sensor 4, for example, a reflective infrared sensor can be used, and in this case, the markers 1a to 1
For e, an ink material having a higher infrared absorbing power than the parts other than these markers is used. The reflecting plate 5 is provided with the sensor 4 with the ink film 1 interposed therebetween, and is used to reflect infrared rays from the sensor 4 to the sensor 4.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the ink film according to the present invention, and parts corresponding to those in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals.

This embodiment is for monochrome printing, and there is no distinction between one printing range; a marker 1a for cueing is provided first, and then black ink is uniformly applied. For this purpose as well, as shown in the figure, a barcode 1b representing the capacity is provided immediately before the marker 1a. This allows you to know the remaining amount at the time of use.

Although the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. For example, the mark indicating the remaining amount may be other than the barcode 1b, or Furthermore, other marks indicating the type, such as color or monochrome, may be provided.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, since a mark indicating the capacity is provided, the remaining capacity at the time of use can be easily determined, and it can be manufactured using almost conventional processes. In addition, the sensor for cueing markers conventionally provided in hard copy devices can be used for detecting the marks, which prevents an increase in the number of parts for hard copy devices. It is possible to obtain excellent effects such as being able to prevent

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing one embodiment of the ink film according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing another embodiment of the ink film according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of essential parts showing an example of a hard copy device. , FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing an example of a conventional ink film. 1... Ink film, 1a... Marker for cueing,
1b...Barcode indicating capacity, 1c, 1d+
le... marker. ÷Z(t Figure 1 Figure 2 b Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a hard copy ink film coated with ink for transfer printing and provided with a cueing marker, a cueing marker that represents the capacity and is located immediately before the cueing marker located at the beginning. An ink film characterized by having a mark that can be detected by the same sensor as the ink film.